Amgen tour of California 2012

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July 25, Elite men four cross finals:

Graves rides to win on well-liked course

By:
Rob Jones
Published:
July 26, 2009, 16:20,
Updated:
July 26, 2009, 16:26

Victory secures him overall World Cup title with two rounds remaining

Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) on his way to victory

Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) on his way to victory

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Jared Graves took his fourth World Cup victory of the year and clinched the men's title with two rounds still remaining. His win was doubly impressive after a flat tire in the quarter final round had him sprinting down over half the course to still finish second - which was upgraded to first after heat winner Mickal Prokop was disqualified for cutting a corner. Except for that mishap, Graves' rides were perfect all evening.

The new course won high praise from almost all the riders. "It is ready for the Worlds next year, I wouldn't change a thing," said winner Graves. There are, of course, the usual rollers, berms and massive jumps, but there is also a rock garden, and there are other large rocks out on the track.

World champion Rafael Alvarez de Lara Lucas (Specialized) took second, with Tomas Slavik third and Roger Rinderknecht (GT Bicycles) fourth after crashing in the final. Dan Atherton (Animal-Commencal) took the small final for the fifth podium spot.

Rinderknecht continues to hold second place in the overall standings, and was likely to give Graves a run for his money until the crash. "I was going well right until the finals, but unfortunately I crashed. I was still able to get fourth, so I've still got a strong standing. I think that this was one of the best courses this year. Big banked turns. Rocks. It had everything."

Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team    
2 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) Specialized Factory Racing    
3 Tomas Slavik (Cze)    
4 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) GT Bicycles    
5 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal    
6 Joost Wichman (Ned)    
7 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing    
8 Bernard Kerr (GBr)    
9 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn    
10 Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team    
11 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK    
12 Randal Huntington (Aus)    
13 Blake Carney (USA)    
14 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense    
15 Martin Frei (Swi)    
16 Michal Prokop (Cze)    
17 Mitch Ropelato (USA)    
18 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team    
19 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Kenda Morewood    
20 Hans Lambert (Can)    
21 Michael Robert Haderer (USA)    
22 Thomas Tokarczyk (USA)    
23 James Schwanke (USA)    
24 Kieran Mcavoy (GBr)    
25 Quentin Derbier (Fra)    
26 Erik Nelson (USA)    
27 Arthur Daley (USA)    
28 Will Longden (GBr)    
29 Markus Sedlak (Aut)    
30 Junya Nagata (Jpn)    
31 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)    
32 Daisuke Kurosawa (Jpn)    
Teams
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 50  pts
2 Suspension Center 40  
3 Specialized Factory Racing 35  
4 Norco World Team 30  
5 GT Bicycles 26  
6 Animal Commencal 22  
7 MS Evil Racing 18  
8 Team Sunn 14  
9 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 12  
10 Rocky Mountain UK 10  
11 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 7  
World Cup standings after six rounds
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 675  pts
2 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) GT Bicycles 370  
3 Joost Wichman (Ned) 366  
4 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn 320  
5 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) Specialized Factory Racing 220  
6 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 216  
7 Michal Prokop (Cze) 202  
8 Tomas Slavik (Cze) 175  
9 Luke Madill (Aus) GT Bicycles 100  
10 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 100  
11 Jurg Meijer (Ned) 91  
12 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 80  
13 Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 76  
14 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 66  
15 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 61  
16 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 40  
17 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 40  
18 Matej Vitko (Svk) 34  
19 Pascal Seydoux (Swi) 30  
20 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 30  
21 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 25  
22 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 25  
23 Quentin Derbier (Fra) 23  
24 David Graf (Swi) 20  
25 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger) 20  
26 William Evans (GBr) 14  
27 Joey Van Veghel (Ned) 14  
28 Randal Huntington (Aus) 11  
29 Brook Macdonald (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 11  
30 Lewis Lacey (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 11  
31 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr) 11  
32 Darryn Stow (RSA) 11  
33 Blake Carney (USA) 8  
34 Michal Marosi (Cze) 8  
35 Will Longden (GBr) 6  
36 Martin Frei (Swi) 4  
37 Arne Tschugg (Ger) 2  
38 Marek Pesko (Svk) 2  
39 Adam Stasek (Cze) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 2  
40 Premek Tejchman (Cze) 2  
Team standings after six rounds
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 235  pts
2 Suspension Center 220  
3 GT Bicycles 167  
4 Team Sunn 139  
5 Norco World Team 125  
6 Animal Commencal 116  
7 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 109  
8 Specialized Factory Racing 95  
9 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 67  
10 MS Evil Racing 53  
11 Rocky Mountain UK 40  
12 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 9